I think the days of one edition of a game going 10 years have passed.

I’ve seen it happen a number of times now where I buy one edition of a game and two or three months later I see a second, third or fourth coming out. Much like cars, computers, gas stoves, and cell phones, TTRPGs have an ever-shortening lifespan attached to them.

I don’t like it, but unfortunately I understand the phenomenon all too well. Game companies need money to survive. Rather than push out a massive volume of sourcebooks, sometimes their best option is to put out a newer, punched-up version of the original even if it’s only been a couple of years. It’s hard for me to get behind these projects, but obviously some people dig it.

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

A couple of examples immediately come to mind.

Cairn is a great example of this. It was a game that was barely a blip on anyone’s radar a couple of years ago and there’s a Kickstarter for the Second Edition Cairn Boxed Set. It’s a good game. It has lots of potential. It met its funding goal on KS no problem. I think Yochai Gal either teamed up or was possibly bought out by another company.

Index Card RPG is another example of back-to-back edition changes. I’d barely even heard of it and was getting ready to buy a copy of first edition when someone told me there was already a second edition coming out. No joke, I have loved my copy of that book to death. I have sticky notes, highlighter, notes, things underlined, and a few dog eared pages to make things easier to find. No sooner had I gotten used to second edition when the Master Edition dropped in 2021. (Then there was a struggle to get it in print, which is a whole different issue.)

I’m hoping that Brandish Gilhelm will take a break from ICRPG since he’s got countless other game projects going and seemingly more every day. To be clear, I love ICRPG. It’s probably still in my top 20 favorite TTRPGs of all time. I just want the Master Edition to stand for about a decade before the next one. It’s fine the way it is, honest.

But wait, there are larger companies pulling the same shenanigans.

Paizo is growing in infamy with me when it comes to new editions. Pathfinder 2E just dropped three new Core rulebooks with a fourth on the way this summer. The Great Wizards of the Coast Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License Debacle of 2023 was the best of news for Paizo, and the worst of news for us, the consumers.

I’ve been biting my tongue really hard not to full-on go off on Paizo. Starfinder got a Remastered Edition in 2023, but they announced Starfinder 2E and began playtesting before the ink was even dry on the remaster. It’s due to come out in 2025 as soon as the public playtest is done.

Do I have to mention Dungeons & Dragons in this conversation? Yes, yes I do. The newest edition drops with the Player’s Handbook in September. Dungeon Master’s Guide drops in November (tentatively,) and the Monster Manual comes to us in February 2025. It’s the new/not-new 2024 Edition of D&D 5E.

There is a plan in place, hanging over WotC’s head, that most people are ignoring or have completely forgotten about. The plan is to drop another new edition in 2027. Hasbro/WotC have stated this as a goal. They’re already hinting that whatever Player’s Handbook material didn’t make the cut this time might appear in a new book for 2027.

My point is, hang onto whatever editions of D&D you hold most dear, because there’s always going to be another one coming and we have no idea what silliness will be included from one to the next. (Looking at you 4E. Wink.) As I’ve predicted before, physical D&D could just become a boxed set board game sold like Monopoly or Clue. WotC seems incredibly determined to go fully digital with D&D and make money from the IP and the video games than actual physical product.

This process is nothing new.

Even the earliest versions of D&D went through revisions, which is about the equivalent of a new edition now. I think the Grognards were probably okay until the game went from B/X Moldvay to BECMI, and 1st Ed AD&D launched. Don’t ask me what there was to grumble about, but some of them are still bitter to this day.

Vampire: the Masquerade and other World of Darkness games flipped editions pretty regularly until Renegade Game Studios took over. Personally, I liked Vampire: the Requiem. I thought it had some of the best sourcebooks for WoD ever. I keep the Requiem Chroniclers Guide and Damnation City for V:tR within easy reach of my desk. There’s a lot of good stuff in those books. But we all knew that edition wouldn’t last forever. It was too drastic a departure from the older game.

Call of Cthulhu is on edition number seven. I’ve been around since CoC 3rd. These, too, are within easy reach of my desk, including the d20 Edition. I love the Cthulhu mythos. Lovecraft was kinda sketchy politically, but the stuff he wrote was excellent.

We’ve now covered six of the highest rated games of all time in terms of popularity. One would think gamers would be used to edition changes in their favorite TTRPGs by now. We don’t love it, but we do have to live with it.

Okay, Jeff. Why is it such a big deal?

Traditionally, a full on edition change usually means all new rules, new stat presentations, changes to existing gear and spells, as well as a whole lot of nuances. For example, maybe the weapons table was trimmed down to a fraction of the number of weapons, the katana was nerfed, and the rapier is now the gawd weapon of the game. The first thing I did was rework the entire weapon table for my game and add several items back in. Ugh.

Sometimes the differences aren’t too dramatic, but some GM/DMs don’t like crunching math and doing conversions. So they have a choice to either go with the newest, shiniest edition that all of the new players will likely have or wallow in the same tired old game books that they’ve used for a decade or more. It’s not always so bad. Some of those books make great references.

The aspect of this that concerns me the most, FOMO aside, is it creates even more divisiveness in the TTRPG community. The upcoming new/not new edition of D&D is going to be the first rollover experience for many new players. Will they embrace the change or stick to old 2014 D&D? Will they jump on the D&D Beyond/VTT/Digital bandwagon or stay somewhat analog.

I’ll be curious to see how this goes for D&D players that signed on during 5E. The hardcore YouTube D&D shills will be hard at work telling people how to think as usual. We’ll probably see a massive rise in smaller YouTube channels all praising the new books. Our old favorite D&DTubers who swore off 5E during the Great OGL Debacle are probably going back to strictly new D&D content. It’s not a bad thing, just somewhat bothersome to me because I always encourage discernment when it comes to new games and YouTube.

Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.